A follower of William Sidney Mount, Tompkins Matteson blended rural genre and history painting, and his subjects included everyday historical, patriotic, and religious subjects.

Matteson was born in Peterboro, New York. He studied and exhibited at the National Academy of Design and with Alvah Bradish and then established himself as a portrait painter in Sherburne, New York before moving in 1841 to New York City. In 1850, he returned to Shelburne, where he spent the remainder of his life.

Elihu Vedder was one of his students.

Source: "Who Was Who in American Art" by Peter Falk

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